-One of the things Superstore has to confront the longer it runs is that retail jobs don't tend to last forever. Sure someone like Glenn is content to stay at Cloud Nine for the long haul but what about someone like Jonah who applied on a whim after dropping out of business school or Amy who clearly wants more out of life? Sure they don't have any other options right now but can we really expect them to plausibly be there for the entire series (Assuming Superstore has a long run)? That tension is brought to the forefront tonight in Rebranding, yet another winning episode of Superstore.
-It's been a while since Jonah's time in business school has been meaningfully explored but it comes back tonight with the arrival of Rex, a Corporate VP who just happens to be Jonah's old friend from business school. This makes Rex much more interesting than if he was just some corporate suit with no connection to the characters. It also gives the show an organic way to reveal that Jonah could go back to business school if he chose, which spins the story away from the rebranding of the Cloud Nine in-store brand and towards Jonah and his future.
-Of course there's no tension in the idea of Jonah leaving anytime soon because he's one of the leads of the show and it's far to early for Ben Feldman to decide he wants to walk away. So the show does a couple of clever things. First, it makes it clear that Glenn is the only one outwardly concerned about the idea that Jonah might leave. Then it makes it clear that Jonah has no intention to leave and makes the story about him trying to show Amy that he's not different from her even with his deferral. Then it drops the second reveal that Jonah's deferral lapsed without him realizing it and he actually doesn't have the option to just pick up where he left off. Suddenly the story's about Jonah realizing that he doesn't have an option anymore and he IS in the same boat with Amy and the rest of them. It makes for a much more compelling story than if we just watched Jonah grapple with whether to go back to business school. Jonah knows he was miserable in Business School and what we saw of him there shows he was floundering but he liked having that option there. So even though he didn't want to go back, finding out that the option isn't there anymore is a blow and it feels like one.
-Props to Ben Feldman tonight, who gave maybe his best performance yet as Jonah. From the video of "Business School Jonah" spitting out a bunch of corporate buzzwords and nonsense to the look on his face when he learns his referral has lapsed, he really brought it tonight.
-Ravi Patel doesn't get a whole lot to do tonight as Rex, but he's terrific in his brief screentime, really selling both Rex's corporate fake niceness and the business school bro vibe he gives off around Jonah. Hopefully he'll be back because his dynamic with Jonah is just dying to be explored further.
-Also, if Jonah isn't periodically called Iceman for the rest of the series, I will be furious.
-I kind of wish we could've seen Jonah's Business School rap but cutting away from it was probably the right choice. There's no way it could've lived up to what we could create in our imaginations.
-I'm at the point where I get excited every time Michael Bunin is on as Jeff. Bunin takes a character who could've been a generic authority figure/love interest and makes him a fully realized human being who always manages to steal the show with his subtle oddness. His reaction to Cheyenne's pitch that the Supercloud mascot should've been a superhero with clouds for arms was hysterical. The look on his face when Sandra boops his nose was just as good.
-Last week, I was a little concerned with the casual abuse heaped on Sandra. When Mateo throws her under the bus by telling Dinah she's in a relationship with Jeff to keep her from figuring out that he told Jeff she called him an asshat, I was worried with where this was going. Sandra just going with the idea that she's in a secret relationship with Jeff though and having everyone be impressed and intrigued by the fake details she provides was the best possible route for this story. Kaliko Kauahi is the best utility player Superstore has and she showed why tonight.
-Deliciousness and Mr. Man might be the world's greatest pet names, even if they are fake.
-Also Sandra's lie is never revealed, which gives her a very rare "win" and keeps Mateo's actual secret relationship with Jeff a secret, both of which were unexpected surprises. This also gives the writers the option to revisit Sandra's deception down the road which I hope they take advantage of.
-Cheyenne trying to hide the heavily discounted Halo products she wants until her shift was over and she could purchase them was more of a runner than an actual story but it was a good runner and the pay-off of a defeated Cheyenne discovering a massive stockpile of Halo stuff in storage was funny and more uplifting than Superstore usually allows. Really everyone won today except Jonah (And kind of Mateo.).
-This week in Mark McKinney is a damn treasure: Glenn trying and failing to hide his palpable excitement about Jonah's deferral lapsing. The little jump he does at the end is incredible.
-Best interstitial: Cheyenne tries to move a Halo display out of reach of a determined customer.
-This week in ridiculous customers: Jonah helps a man who is facing an existential crisis brought on by the replacing of the Halo toilet paper with Supercloud. Him putting rolls of toilet paper to different parts of Jonah's body to see if it feels different was a terrific visual.
-Another great Jeff bit Bunin sells the hell out of: Him playing "Get Ready For This" to try and jazz up the employees for Supercloud followed by a cut to him being surprised at how long the song is. "What was that, 11 minutes?"
-Glenn tries to cheer up Jonah. "You will always have a place here until the day you die. You can die here."
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